Everything Has Changed
by Sanderuhh
Summary: Will gets his memories back and everything changes between him and Paul. Everything. Two shot Horita fic.


Paul stood outside of Will's bedroom, unable to bring himself to knock on the door. Will had texted him and asked him to come over so they could talk. It had been about a month since Will was injected with the serum. No one was sure what the process would be like if it indeed work. As days went by, Will started to figure it out a litte.

Will came into physical contact with Sonny and that somehow had gotten him his first memory back. It was the day they had gotten married. After that day, Will would get pieces of his memory back in his sleep. He guessed you could call them dreams? Will didn't know for sure how to explain it but every time he woke up, he had another piece of memory back. Whether it was about Sonny, Ariana, his parents, or anyone else in the family; he was starting to feel more whole.

Paul had seen the obvious change in Will. He wasn't the same person that had amnesia. How could he be the same person? He remembered everything. He knew who he was. His past, the highs and lows. The former baseball player knew that Will was holding back from telling him about the memories of him and Sonny, for the sake of his feelings. Regardless, Paul knew. He just knew what was coming. Will had been pretty distant with him ever since he got that first memory back. Paul would never forget walking out of the bathroom and watching Will and Sonny hold hands. Will had assured him that nothing was going to change one he got his memory back but he was wrong.

Everything had changed.

Paul took a deep breath and finally knocked on the door. They exchanged small smiles once Will opened the door and Paul stepped inside.

"I had another dream last night." Will announced as he closed the door behind him.

"Oh? What was it about this time?"

"You." Paul looked at him surprised. "I remember when we first met. The article I wrote about you and when..." Will couldn't finish the sentence.

"When you cheated on Sonny with me." Paul finished it for him. He noticed the way Will flinched at the words as they came out of his mouth. It was clearly bothering him and he looked rather guilty. Guilty enough to want to make it right in any way that he could.

"It's been a long past couple of weeks.," Will walked over so he was standing in front of Paul. "I've done so much thinking, my head might explode." He laughed half heartedly. Paul could only smile the same way. "All these memories, good and bad are laying heavily on me right now. It's overwhelming."

Paul massaged Wil's shoulders. "I'm sorry."

Will shook his head. "Don't apologize. For anything." He could feel his eyes welling up with tears as he looked up at Paul. "I'm the one who is sorry. Paul, I'm so sorry." His voice cracked.

"You're going back to him." It wasn't said as a question. More as a statement. It took everything in Paul to not breakdown. He had prepared for this but watching an emotional Will in front of him..he wasn't sure how strong he could be anymore.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think this would happen." The last thing Will wanted was to hurt Paul but how could he tell Sonny that wouldn't try to fix their marriage? They both made mistakes but Will was the one who cheated. He did that and he wanted to fix that mistake. He owed it to himself, Sonny, and their daughter. The day Will assured Paul nothing would change between them kept looming over him. There was so much going on in his head all at once.

Paul sighed. "Believe it or not, I prepared myself for when this day would come."

Will wiped the tears from his eyes. "What?"

Paul couldn't control his emotions anymore. The tears were falling. This really hurt. "I knew this would happen, Will so I prepared myself for it. Even though you assured me nothing would change, I knew better than that." Paul stepped close to Will and took his hands in his, both pair of watery eyes looking at each other. "The minute you told me you were taking the serum...I knew I had already lost you." Paul spoke softly. "I was just waiting for you to say it. Everyone has always known how strong the connection between you and Sonny is. There is no way you wouldn't want to go back to that and make it right. "

Will shook his head in confusion. "You were certain that his would happen...yet you still supported me. You were there when my grandmother injected the serum. You've been there every step of the way. Why?"

Paul swallowed hard. He didn't want to answer that but he could see the curiosity in Will's eyes mixed with sadness and confusion. He let go of Will's hands and cupped his face instead. "Because…" he hesitated. "Because I love you, Will." he finally gathered the small ounce of courage he had left and said it. "I'm in love with you and I just want you to be happy. I could tell how desperate you were. When you told me you wanted to remember memories that family always talked about...I knew I couldn't stand in the way. I wanted you to feel whole again because I love you and because it's what you wanted."

Will exclaimed in his head. He couldn't believe what Paul had just said. More tears escaped from his eyes as he grabbed a hold of Paul's hands and laced their fingers together against his face. All he could say was, "I'm sorry." What else could he say? He sounded like a broken record and he knew his apologies wouldn't make Paul feel better at all. He was just….speechless at Paul's love confession. His brain still had not processed the information.

"It's okay." Paul sniffled and smiled softly. "I wasn't expecting you to say anything back." He tried his best to wipe the tears from Will's cheeks before he continued talking. "For the first time since I arrived here in Salem, I truly know that nothing can stand between the love you and Sonny have for one another. Your connection is unbreakable. I know that now. I never had a true future with Sonny and i never had a true future with you. " He continued with a certain crack in his voice. "This triangle with you, Sonny, and myself has to be put to rest." Paul let go of Will completely. You, Will Horton, are the most unpredictable thing that has ever happened to me. Yet I still fell in love with you. I don't regret it even though nothing has changed and nothing will ever change. It will always be you and Sonny."

Will continued to be rendered speechless. He could see and hear the pain in Paul's eyes and voice. He had assured Paul that everything was going to be okay and it wasn't. When Paul left for Mexico, Will expressed that he didn't want to lost Paul. In the end, it was Paul who ended up losing Will. There was nothing he could say for all the pain he and Sonny had caused this man. A man that deserved the whole world. A man that didn't deserve all this pain.

Paul though, knew what Will was thinking. "You don't have to say anything." He stepped closer and kissed Will's forehead. Then he leaned in and pecked Will's lips softly, just one last time. "You deserve to be happy Will and I hope you get what you want with Sonny."

Will choked up. "You deserve to be happy too Paul." He whispered, Paul barely heard him.

"Yeah, I do."

Paul finished in his head.

Silence had fallen for the next couple of minutes, both men trying to recover from what was all said. They wiped their tears away, eyes puffy and red. "I should go." Paul finally said. He slowly made his way to the door.

"You'll be at the wedding right?" Will referred to his grandmother, and John's wedding. He would feel awful if Paul didn't go just so he wouldn't have to see Will and Sonny.

Paul opened the door and turned around. "No. I won't be there."

Will looked surprised. "Another assignment?"

"No. I'm leaving Salem, for good."

The words punched the air right out of Will. He was leaving and not coming back. He hurt the man so much that he can't even be around him anymore.

"I'm not leaving because of you or Sonny. What you just said, about me deserving to be happy...I do deserve to be happy and I don't feel like I can get that here, at least not permanently so I'm leaving to find someone who I can have an actual stable relationship with. A relationship that isn't hanging on by some threads or depending on other outcomes."

Will started to cry again. "I never wanted to hurt you Paul. Everything I told you when we were together...it was true. What we had was real. I wouldn't trade out time together for anything. I'm so sorry." The long tears escaping his blue eyes had run all the way down his neck.

"I forgive you."

Will wished that would have made him feel better. It didn't. "Where are you going?"

Paul pursed his lips. "It doesn't matter." Everything with the exception of his father and brother...he wanted to leave it behind. He wanted to leave Salem behind so he wouldn't tell anyone where he was going. He promised John and Brady that he would keep in touch and that was it. It took a lot for John to be okay with it but he finally agreed. He knew his son needed this distance and if it meant he would stop hurting...he was all for it. "Goodbye Will." Paul took one last glance at a crying Will and stepped out, closing the door behind him.

He was about to head into his own room but Sonny appeared from around the corner. It was awkward to say the least.

Will had told Sonny that he was going to talk to Paul. By the puffy and red eyes, Sonny assumed the talk had just ended. There was silence for a second before Sonny spoke. "Paul, I'm sorry about all of this. It's not how we wanted things to turn out."

"Yeah, I'm sure Will didn't." Sonny tilted his head at that response. "Everything Will said to me when we were together was real. He was always truthful with me and he had no idea how affected he would be after getting his memories back. So, I don't hate him for any of this. You on the other hand...that's a different story." Paul's eyes suddenly turned ice cold.

Sonny was taken back by it. "Excuse me?" He's never seen this look in Paul's eyes before.

"You practically left me at the altar and you didn't even think twice about it. Or even feel bad about it." Paul kept the same look on his face. "You told me so many times that you loved me yet it wasn't that hard for you to leave me behind. You literally shoved my ring back in my face and you never apologized for it. For anything!" Paul raised his voice. Will heard but didn't open the door. He couldn't keep himself from listening though. "I have never hated anyone in my life Sonny. And it's pretty sad that the first person I ever feel hatred for...is the first man I ever fell in love with."

Sonny couldn't believe Paul had just said that. Neither could Will.

"You accused me of some pretty ridiculous things…" Paul shook his head as he continued. "If you truly loved me back then, you had a funny way of showing it. I can tell you with full certainty though that I'm over you. But the never apologizing to me, saying and doing things to me that I didn't deserve...I don't forgive you for it. I don't. And even though I'm over you...I had to finally stand up for myself and tell you all this. I really hope you get back that compassion you had when we first met. Because it's clear that you've lost it. You lost it along time ago. Goodbye Sonny."

Paul disappeared into his room without saying another word. He was proud of himself for that. It was a long time coming.

Now...on to Hawaii.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **This was originally supposed to be a one shot but I decided to write another chapter with a happy Horita endgame. I'd say we deserve it after hearing that Christopher Sean has left the show. A huge loss for the soap. It won't be the same without him. Stay tuned for chapter 2!**


End file.
